Posts

COVID-19: Federal government passes Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy legislation

After an extraordinarily compressed timeline for debate and amendment, Bill C-14, the legislation to enact the new Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy that will provide relief to employers struggling to remain operational due to COVID-19, has received royal assent. The legislation is highly technical and laden with definitions and exceptions that make it complex—if there was […]

Proposed draft changes to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy would enhance SME relief

News today that the federal government is, indeed, considering changes to the new Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy to aid organizations struggling in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, was lauded by many in the business community. As we reported previously, the $71 billion program would provide a subsidy of up to 75 per cent of […]

COVID-19 update: Federal government unveils $82 billion stimulus package

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. The federal government’s latest response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a breathtaking $82 billion stimulus package announced today, underscored the severity of the current—and coming wave—of economic upheaval facing Canadian businesses in the weeks and months ahead. Put simply, all prior fiscal projections are now irrelevant. Business performance estimates must […]

Tax payments

Election 2019 Platform Comparison: How each party’s policies would impact your business

As Election 2019 grinds to a close and Canadians get set to choose their next prime minister, many voters are looking forward to seeing the back of an occasionally acrimonious but otherwise dull campaign. Still, this tight horserace has managed to sprinkle in a couple of surprises—a Liberal leader in brown face, a possible new […]

Carbon Tax

What does the federal carbon tax really mean for your business?

The first week of the federal election campaign, most pundits griped, was a notably dull affair. At least until Time magazine published ‘brown face’ photos of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. That’s when the horserace to elect our next government got interesting. Whether the PM survives the scandal remains to be seen. But when the dust […]

Ontario SME owners on edge over potential R&D tax credit changes

If research, development and innovation are the lifeblood of Ontario’s economy—not to mention well-used talking points amongst the province’s business-courting political class—then it’s no surprise that a new review of popular tax credits is giving many small and medium-sized business owners cause for concern. The recent Ontario budget, the first tabled by the newly-elected Progressive […]

Federal economic update provides only modest relief for entrepreneurs

Ottawa’s war against small and medium-sized business owners seems to be over—at least for now. The trouble is the government’s peace offering does little to mitigate the greater threats facing entrepreneurs, from over-taxation and burdensome regulation to tax code complexity. Wednesday’s fall economic update made it clear that the Trudeau Liberals, with an election looming […]

The good, the bad and the ugly of Ottawa’s proposed corporate tax changes

The federal government last week took another step towards implementing sweeping tax changes that could have a disproportionate impact on small and medium-sized business owners across Canada. The Trudeau Liberals announced plans for a 75-day consultation period during which they’ll be seeking feedback on changes to three common tax-planning strategies for private corporations. The government’s […]